Rising Incidents of Crime: Is It a Return of Jungle Raj in Bihar?

Despite repeated assurances by Nitish himself, fear of return of jungle raj looms large, writes Neena Choudhary.

Exactly two months ago, when Nitish Kumar took over the reigns of Bihar again, he reassured everyone that his first priority would be good governance and improved law and order. Those who took him at face value need to sample the following incidents of crime across the state.

Spate of Crimes

Dec 13: A rice trader is shot dead in Muzaffarpur.

Dec 26: Two engineers are gunned down in Darbhanga.

Dec 28: A Reliance engineer is killed in Vaishali.

Jan 16: A jeweller is shot dead in broad daylight in Patna.

Jan 18: Rs 20 lakh is looted from an SBI branch in Champaran.

Jan 18: JD(U) MLA’s ganglord husband, facing murder charges, escapes from police station.

Jan 18: A JD(U) MLA, Sarfaraz Alam, is charged with sexual misconduct with a woman passenger in Rajdhani Express.

Jan 21: Another JD(U) MLA Girdhari Yadav charged with abduction of a youth from neighbouring state of Jharkhand.

People Don’t Feel Safe

However, earlier this week, Nitish Kumar, speaking at a function organised jointly by the SEBI and BSE, reiterated unabashedly that there was no law and order problem in Bihar. According to the Chief Minister, a few crime incidents were being magnified and blown out of proportion to show the state in poor light.

Nobody had the guts to point out to him that the apprehension expressed by all his rivals (that if he, along with his new found ally, Lalu Prasad, was voted to power, it would witness Jungle Raj-II) would soon come true.

The recent spurt in crime has sent chills down the spine of those residing in Bihar. Loot, murder, robbery, kidnapping for ransom and extortion calls have become the order of the day. Many of those working for infrastructure companies, particularly those engaged in the construction of roads and buildings, have either tendered their resignation or expressed their inability to work in a hostile environment. Though the Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav, Lalu Prasad’s youngest son, assured that round-the-clock security would be provided to all those who have a threat perception, such assurances failed to cut much ice.

Then and Now

Nitish may or may not admit this, but it’s an undisputed fact that when he took over the reigns of Bihar in November 2005, the first step he took was to demolish the flourishing ‘kidnapping industry’, which was the only ‘trade’ being carried out in Bihar without any inhibitions.

The only difference was that he was then in alliance with the BJP and had ridden to power on the pledge of establishing the rule of law. One reason why his previous stint bore fruit in controlling crime was: He had sent a loud and clear message to top cops – no political interference in any arrest.

Today, the scene is diametrically opposite. With Lalu calling the shots every now and then, it has become a common joke that the RJD chief is virtually acting as Super CM, while Nitish, who no longer holds even his janata durbar, is a lame-duck CM.

To buttress this point, a fellow journalist narrated an incident. “A group of RJD workers recently beat up JD(U) leaders in a remote area. The aggrieved JD(U) workers lodged a complaint at the CM’s office. When Nitish came to know about it, he asked one of his aides to ‘talk to the SP concerned and ask him to take necessary action.’ When the aide rang up the SP, the IPS officer informed him that a few minutes ago, Lalu too had called him up and asked him not to take any action against those RJD workers who had bashed up the JD(U) leaders,” the scribe said dropping ample hints who was calling the shots in Bihar.

To dispel such notions, Nitish may chew chuda dahi (flattened rice and curd) at Lalu’s residence, smiling and posing for the cameras, but deep within, he too knows he has been trapped in a web which he himself created a couple of years ago owing to his ego problem with Narendra Modi. In his bid to settle scores with his bête noire from Gujarat, he joined hands with someone who symbolises anarchy, bedlam and chaos.

Inauspicious Start

If in the first two terms, Nitish was known as a Chief Minister who ruled Bihar with an iron hand, established the rule of law and put Bihar on the development fast track, then his present tenure has had a very inauspicious start. It’s high time for him to reinvent, re-assert and prove himself. More so, if he has 2019 in mind.

(The writer is a Bihar-based journalist.)